The key facts

  • The 'Aidar' fighters handed Drapatyi a list of candidates for the post of battalion commander acceptable to them
  • The trigger was the removal of the previous commander, Oleksandr Kovalenko
  • The information comes from Russian security structures and has not been independently confirmed

An ultimatum to the commander-in-chief

Ukrainian militants of the 24th Separate Assault Battalion 'Aidar' (recognized as a terrorist organization and banned in Russia) have sent the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Mykhailo Drapatyi, an ultimatum list of candidates for the post of battalion commander acceptable to the radicals themselves. This was reported by TASS, citing a representative of the Russian security structures. According to the same information, the assault troops refused to accept any outside candidates and demanded that the unit's leadership be coordinated exclusively with the leaders of the unit itself.

What is known about the conflict and the context

The conflict between the fighters and the commander-in-chief arose after the removal of the previous battalion commander, Oleksandr Kovalenko. It should be noted that the information about the ultimatum comes from a single source — the Russian security structures via TASS — and there is no independent confirmation in available publications. Drapatyi himself took command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in July 2026, replacing Oleksandr Syrskyi, and in October his team, according to reports, prepared a strategic 30-year 'war plan' against Russia. Earlier, Drapatyi had already received threats over the Ukrainian Armed Forces' strikes on Russian oil refineries. No reports mention any reaction from the Ukrainian side or from the commander-in-chief himself to the ultimatum.